- Kyle Chua
Snap Announces Flying Camera To Take Company to New Heights
Snap, the company behind Snapchat, today at its fourth Snap Partner Summit announced its own flying camera that can act as your camera companion when you have no one else to take photos and videos for you.
Called Pixy, the mini drone of sorts is described as an easy to pick up free-flying sidekick, which doesn’t come with a controller. Instead, the pocket-sized device features four preconfigured flight paths that you can toggle using a camera dial. You can have Pixy orbit or follow you, hovering a few feet above the ground, as you walk or run.
Once you’ve decided on the flight mode, you simply have to press the button to activate the device and it’ll take off from your hand on its own. And when you’re done, you can put your hand out to have it land back on your palm.
You can then open Snapchat on your smartphone to find the photos that Pixy recorded from its flight, which are transferred wirelessly. Videos are stored in your Snapchat Memories by default. And if you’re not happy with them, you can use the platform’s editing tools to enhance your videos before you upload and share them for your friends and followers.
Under the hood, Pixy houses a camera that can record 2.7K videos and capture 12MP photos as well as a replaceable battery. It’s relatively lightweight and portable, coming in at only 101 g. A single charge can get you between five to eight flights.
“Today, we’re taking the power and magic of the Snap Camera – the spontaneity, the joy and the freedom – to new heights,” said Snap CEO Evan Spiegel. “A new camera to match the limitless potential of your imagination.”
Pixy is priced at US$229.99 and will be sold in the U.S. and France while supplies last, according to the product’s website.
Snap at the event also announced its new push towards augmented reality shopping experiences, rolling out new services and tools that enable developers to bring such features on the platform. The company, for instance, said it will expand storage to allow developers to create more complex AR experiences, including three-dimensional models. It’ll also introduce Dress Up, a new feature that lets you try on different outfits virtually. These new experiences will be powered by Snap’s Lens AR technology.
Snapchat, the platform, reportedly has a reach of over 600 million monthly, with more than 332 million daily active users around the world.
Snap at its fourth Snap Partner Summit announced its own flying camera that can act as your camera companion when you have no one else to take photos and videos for you.
the pocket-sized device features four preconfigured flight paths that you can toggle using a camera dial. You can have Pixy orbit or follow you, hovering a few feet above the ground, as you walk or run.
Snap at the event also announced its new push towards augmented reality shopping experiences, rolling out new services and tools that enable developers to bring such features on the platform.